Side-seaming machine.



c. w. SLEEPER. SIDE SEAMING MACHINE.

(Application filed Feb. 12, 1901.) (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet l.

} No. 698,066. Patented Apr. 22', I902.

Witnasws Inventor? 4 M W- w flvf W No. 698,066. Patented Apr. 22, I902.

c. w. SLEEPER. SIDE SEAMING MACHINE.

(Application filed Feb. 12, 1901.

s Shets-Sheet- 2.

(No Model.)

Witnesses. 15108111011 2;; 47, MM w. 8%

ml: NORRIS FE-TERSYCQ. FHQTp-LHNG, WASHINGYON- D4 9..

Pate nted Apr. 22, I902.

N0. 698,066 C. W. SLEEPER.

SIDE SEAMING MACHINE. (1 511 :licatimi' filed Feb. 12, 1901.

6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(.No Model.)

THE Noam: PETERS ca. FHOTQUFHO, wumnuwy, D. c.

- No. 698,066. Patented Apr. 22, I902.

c. w. SLEEPER.

SIDE SEAMING MACHINE.

(Application filed Feb. 12, 1901.) i (.No Model.) I 6 Shaets'$heet 4.

Wztnss'es. entor.

Patented Apr. 22, 1902'.

c. w. SLEEPER. SIDE SEAMING MACHINE.

' (Application fll'ed Ifeb. 12, 1901.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(No Model.)

Inventor.

m: NORRIS vzrzns no. PNOTO'LITHQ. WASMINOTON, nv cl No. 6981066. Patented Apr. 22, 5902. c. w. SLEEPER- v SIDE SEAIMING MACHINE.

Application filed Feb. 12, 1901) I 6 Sheets$heef 6.

,(No Model.)

Invert/i011 {0M w.

Witnesses &

THE Mom-us PETERS cu. PMmc-uTHo.. WASHINGTON n. c,

UNiTED STATS ATENT Fries.

CHARLES W. SLEEPER, OF LANCASTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SlDE-SEAIVIING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 698,066, datedApril 22, 1902.

Application filed February 12,1901. Serial No. 46,999. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. SLEEPER, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Lancaster,in the county of Coos and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Side-Seaming Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has special relation to im-, provements in the side-seaming machine for which I obtained Letters Patent of the United States No. 585,635, dated June 29, 1897; and it consists in certain details of construction which render the machine easier of adjustment and more positive in its action. These improvements consist specifically, first, in the use of adjustable guides for carrying the guide-rolls; second, in certain improvements in the devices for raising and supporting the knife-die and holding the can-body blank against the mandrel; third,in improved mechanism for operating the upper dies and adjusting their position with relation to the knife-die.

In the drawings annexed to this specification, Figure 1 is a'front view of the entire machine. Fig. 2 is a detail plan of the tin-feeding table and guides. Fig. 3 is an end view of the tin-feeding mechanism. Fig. 4 is a side view'of the machine. Fig. 5 is a detail of mechanism for raising the lower die or knife. Fig. 6 is a detail of ejector mechanism. Fig. 7 is a detail of mechanism for operating the tin-feed lever and the shaft (1 Fig. Sisadetailof forming device and mechanism for operating the same. Fig. 9 is a detail of the mechanism for operating the ejectors. Fig. 10 is a detail of ejector-cam and cam-rod. Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 14 are details showingthe scam in different stages of formation. Figs. 15, 16, 17, and 18 are details showingthe action of the upperdie and tucker in forming the seam. Fig. 19 is a detail show ing the manner of supporting the knife-die. Fig. 20 is a detail showing the means for adjusting the position of the upper (lies with relation to the lower die. Fig. 21 is a detail showing the tucker-cam and cam-rod. Fig. 22 is a detail of the die-cam and cam-rod. Fig. 23 is a detail showing the standard A with a sizes.

ejectors. Fig. 24 is a detail giving an end View of the ejectors and showing the method of adjusting the ejectors for cans of different Fig. 25 is a detail giving a top View of the mechanism for operating and adjust-' iugthe upper dies. Fig. 26 is a detail showing the form of the eccentric-shaft f.

A is the base of the machine.

A is a column secured to the base A and having a projecting head A A is a standard secured to the base A at the front of the machine.

A is a standard secured to the base A at the rear of the machine and provided witl journal-boxes for shafts A A A isashaft carrying the driving-pulleyA and pinion A", which engages a gear A on the cam-shaft A The cam-shaft A passes through the column A and carries all the cams by which the various movements are effected.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, a is a table secured to the column A for carrying the tin plates to be used in forming the can-bodies. a a are T-slotted brackets secured to the table a by screws passing through suitable slots in the flange of the table and capable of both vertical and horizontal adjustment. a and a are angle-iron guides adj ustably secured to the brackets a a by suitable screw-bolts, which engage T-slots in the tops of said brackets. a is a block carrying the feed-finger a and sliding on a bar a secured to the brackets a 0, The block a is connected by a link 00 to a lever a pivoted at its lower end to the base of the machine and connected by a link a pivoted to said lever a by the pin a to the slotted crank a a projecting stud a on the end of said link a engaging a slot in said crank a (See Figs. 1 and 7.) An oscillating movement is given to the crank 01. by means of the pinion a en a ed b the rack a to which reci 1;

I D D the pin a should be in a straight lineby I00 which arrangements a slight variation in the position of the rack a due to the wearing of the parts or otherwise will not materially affeet the position of the lever a nor the accu racy of the feeding mechanism. 0}" is a bracket secured to the top of the column A and opposite the table a. a is a T-slotted bracket secured to the bracket a and provided with means for vertical and horizontal adjustment. a a are stop-guides adjustably secured to the bracket a and presenting a flaring recess to the sheets of tin B as they are pushed forward between the guides a" (t the bottom of said recess being just wide enough to receive and hold the sheets, whereby the sheets are accurately alined before being acted upon by the forming mechanism.

Referring to Figs. 1, 4, and S, b is a cylindrical steel mandrel or seaming-horn projecting from the face of the head A Z) is an eccentric-sleeve fitted to the mandrel b and having an outer diameter equal to the inside diwings hinged to the bracket b and adapted to wrap the body-blank of a can around the mandrel. I) b arelinks connecting the wings b 12* withsliding bars I) b,which are arranged to move vertically between guide-rolls If I), projecting from the guide plates Z2 b These guide-plates Z2 are provided with ribs on their under sides engaging the transverse slots U in the face of the column A and are ad justably secured thereto by bolts Z1 passing through said slots and connecting the guide-plates with the column A. By this arrangement the distance between the sliding bars Z) is readily adjusted to enable the machine to operate on cans of different sizes, the whole set of guide-rolls If on each side of the machine being moved laterally at once and released and secured by the operation of a single bolt h I) b" are links pivoted at their upper ends to the sliding bars I) b and having at their lower ends studs working in slotted arms 12 12 which move about the stationary shafts b b connecting the column A and the standard A. The arms 11 are provided with segment-gears at their inner ends, engaged by racks b ,working in a guide I) and acted upon by a cam I) by means of suitable pins and rollers carried by the racks and entering the groove in said cam.

Referring to Figs. 1, 4, 5, 8, 19, and 20, c is a thin-edged die, called a knife, loosely fitted in a slot in the mandrel b, so that its face is at an angle of about thirty degrees with the perpendicular. This knife rests upon the top of suitable pins 0 The pin 0 passes down nearly through the mandrel and is prevented from falling out when unsupported by an enlargement at the top, which strikes against a corresponding shoulder in the socket b, in which the pin 0 works. The pin 0 near the back of the mandrel, passes through the mandrel and through the bracket b 0 is a sliding beam guided in suitable grooves in the column A and standard A and carrying the adjustable screw-rods c 0 c projecting from its upper surface. \Vhen the beam is raised, the rods a and c strike against the lower ends of the pins 0 and 0 respectively, thereby raising the knife 0, which rests upon the pins, and rigidly supporting it while the seam is being formed upon the can. 0 is a bar or key resting upon the top of the bracket b and designed to be raised by the screw-rods 0" 0 which pass through the bracket Z2 in order to hold the can-body firmly against the mandrel. 6 is a rack, to which vertical reciprocating motion is given by means of the cam c and the cam-rod c", the rack being guided by roll 0 on a pin projecting from the face of the column A. c is a rock-shaft with one end journaled in the face of the column A and the other end in the standard A The rock-shaft 0 is furnished with a segment of gear-teeth 0 which are engaged by the rack 0 and with two projecting ears 0, which are connected to the beam 0 by the links 0 0 Raising the cam-rod 0' causes the rock-shaft c to move to the position shown by dot-ted lines in Fig. 5, the links 013 acting as toggles to raise the beam 0 and forming a rigid support for it when raised.

Referring to Figs. 1, t, and 7, (l is a crank upon the shaft A d is a segment-shaped block pivoted to the crank. (Z is a forked rod arranged to embrace the shaft and provided with asegmental groove 61 so arranged that the block (1 may move along the groove and across the open space between the points of the fork, as shown in Fig. 7. The upper end of the rod (1 terminates in a rack which engages a segment-gear d upon a rockshaft (2 which passes through the head A. cl is an arm secured to the shaft (1. d is a denble link secured to the die d and connecting the same with the arm (1. As the shaft A revolves the crank (Z carries the block (1 along the groove (1 and across the opening (Z (above the shaft during the upper part of the stroke and below the shaft during the lower half of the stroke,) giving an irregular or quick return motion to the rod (F, the rod moving faster during the upper half of the stroke, when the shaft A lies outside the curve of groove d and the block d acts upon the convex side of the groove, and slower during the lower half of the stroke, when the shaft lies within the curve of groove (Z and the block d acts upon the concave side of said groove. The arm cl oscillates between the position shown in Fig. 15 and that shown in Fig. 18, and in making these oscillations the point of connection with thelink (1 passes the vertical line twice during each complete oscillation. It is obvious, therefore, that, the die 01 will descend upon the mandrel twice during each revolution of the shaft A Referring to Figs. 1, 4, 20, and 25, the die d secured to thelower end of the link (Z is guided by links d connecting it with arms e e on a rock-shaft e, journaled in a suitable projection on the side of the head A and operated by an arm 6 cam-rod c and cam 6 by which a horizontal movement is communicated to the said die d In order to insure accurate work, it is essential that the died should be exactly parallel to the knife-die c. To effect this result and to provide for slight variations due to inaccuracies of construction, wear, or warping of the parts, one of the arms 6 e is provided with an eccentric-pin e Fig. 20, to receive the corresponding link (Z By turning this eccentric-pin in its socket the position of the corresponding end of the. die d is changed and the alinement of the die with the knife-die c is regulated. fis a tucking-die of substantially the same length as the die 01 and mounted upon a frame f, which is pivoted. to two arms f and guided by linksf which connect the frame f with an eccentric-shaft f Figs. 20, 25, 26, projectingfrom the head The arms f are attached to a rock-shaft A F, to which is also secured an arm f connected to a cam-rod f and operated by a cam f on the shaft A Figs. 4, 21. f is a pin secured to oneside of the frame f andinserted in a slot in one of the arms f thereby pivotally connecting the said frame and arm, the

other side of said frame and the corresponding arm being also connected by a like pin.

. 11 11 are set-screws for re ulatin the ositended to provide are very'slight.

tion of the pin f in said slot. The eccentricshaftf Figs. 4,20, 25,26, is shown in detail in Fig. 26, but somewhat out of scale, as the variations in adjustment for which it is in- The part w is seated in a cylindrical socket in the head A as shown particularly in Fig. 4. The part t which is embraced by one of the links f is turned on a center different from that of the part ac, and the part a, forming a pin atthe end of the shaft, is concentric with the part w. On the pin a is mounted an eccentrio f which is embraced by the other link f and which is normally concentric with the part y and is then substantially a continuation thereof, but assumes a position eccentric to it when moved about the pin a. By moving the eccentric on the pin .2 the corresponding link f is acted upon and that end of the dief is brought nearer to or farther from the die 0, thereby changing the relative alinement of the two dies. By turning the whole shaft f about in its socket in the head A both links f are affected alike, and the distance between the dies f and c is thereby changed.

Referring to Figs. 4, 6, 9, 10, and 24, g is a a slotted arm g mounted on a short shaft journaled in the standard A g is a link connecting the arm g with the lever g, pivoted to the base A of the machine. g is a guide-roll mounted on a pin projecting from the standard A and acting to hold the rack g in eugagementwith the segment-gear 9 g is a shoulder-stud passing through the slot 9 in the arm g and screwed to the link 9 whereby the relative, position of the arm g and link g may be adjusted. g is a' crosshead sliding upon the guide g. g g are ejector-rods adjustably secured to the crosshead g. Q13 is a cleat secured to the crosshead 9 and holding the samein contact with the guide g. is a pin and roller on aprojecting ear of the cross-head g and engaged by a slot in the lever g 9 is a pivot on which the lever 9 works. .Upon the ends of the ejector-rods g are arms g", Fig. 24, terminating in circular projections g 9 designed to enter suitable grooves in the mandrel b b and push off the finished can. The ejector-rods are so placed that the are described by the projections g when moved about the center of the ejector-rod will intersect the surface of the mandrel I) nearly at the intersection of its horizontal diameter with its surface, and the grooves in the sleeve 1) are so placed as to also intersect this are, so that one pairof ejectors may serve to eject cans of allsizes within the capacityot' the machine.

In operation the body-blanksB are placed in a pile upon the table a. The operator takes them one at a time and places them on the guides a a when'they are pushed forward by the finger a between the mandrel and the key a, as shown by dotted lines, Fig.

.8, the forward end of the body-blank being guided and held in place by the stop-guides a 0. as shown by dotted lines, Fig. 2. The cam-rod c then rises, causing the knife 0 to project above the mandrel, at-the same time forcing the key 0 upward" against the body blank and pressing the same against the mandrel. The wings b b then move from the position-shown by dotted lines, Fig. 8, to position shown by full lines, thus wrapping the can-body blank around the mandrel. The rack I) being operated by the same cam, one moves a little in advance of the other, insuring the uniform overlapping of the ends of the can-body blank, as shown in Fig.11. The tucking-die f now descends to the position shown in Figs.'12 and 16, bending the underlapping end of the body -blank and forming a hook upon it, and as the tucking die returns to its former position the upper die 01 being moved vertically by the arm d? and laterally by the arms-e e, bends the over lapping end of the body-blank over the knifediec and presses it into the angle formed by the upturned underlapping end, the two ends being loosely hooked together, as shown in Fig. 13. The upper die (1 is then moved to a position above the knife-die c, the arm d having reached one extremity of its movement, and on the return motion of the arm (Z the die (Z descends to position shown in Fig. 14, crushing the seam, the knife-die being arranged to descend as the same is crushed. The wings b b are then moved to positions shown by dotted lines, Fig. 8, and the canbody is pushed oif from the mandrel by the ejectors 9.

Having by the direction of the Commissioner of Patents divided my application as originally filed, I limit my claims in this application to a portion only of the improvements hereinbefore described, but do not thereby abandon my right to obtain Letters Patent for other improvements herein described, but not claimed, it being my intention to file separate applications for Letters Patent therefor.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a side-seaming machine the guideplates (1 carrying guide-rolls Z2 and provided with projecting ribs engaging transverse slots b in the column A and capable of lateral adjustment by means of said slots and bolts 1) passing through the same, substantially as described.

2. In a side-seaming machine having a canforming mandrel I) with a die-knife c loosely mounted therein and resting upon pins 0 0 means for raising said knife-die and holding the same firmly in position during the formation of the seam, consisting of screw-rods c c mounted in a sliding beam 0 and supporting said pins 0' 0 links 0 0 connecting said beam 0 with ears 0 attached to the rockshaft 0 segment-gear 0 also attached to said rock-shaft and engaged by the rack operated by the cam-rod c and cam 0 substantially as described.

3. In a side-seaming machine havinga canforming mandrel b and wings b b for wrapping a bodyblank around said mandrel, means for holding said body-blank firmly against said mandrel during the formation of the seam, consisting of the bar 0 screws 0 0 adapted to lift said bar and mounted on sliding beam 0 links 0 0 connecting said beam 0 with ears c 0 attached to rock-shaft 0 segment-gear 0 also attached to said rockshaft and engaged by rack 0 operated by cam-rod c and cam a" substantially as described.

4. In a side-seaming machine having a die (l adapted to cooperate with a die 0 in forming a locked seam, means for regulating the alinement of said die d with said die 0 consisting of parallel links (Z (Z pivoted to opposite ends of the link d carrying said die d and also at the opposite ends of said links (Z to arms 6 attached to the rock-shaft 6', one of said arms 6 having an adjustable eccentricpin a working in a slot in the end of the corresponding link (Z by the adjustment of which eccentric-pin the distance between that end of the die (Z and the die 0 is increased or diminished, substantially as described.

5. In a side seaming machine having a tucker-diefadapted to cooperate with a knifedie a in forming a locked seam, means for regulating the alinement of said die fwith said die 0, consisting of parallel links f pivoted at one end to the sides of the frame f by which the die f is carried and connected at the other with the eccentric-shaft f in combination With the eccentric-shaft f having at one end the adjustable eccentric f one of said links f embracing the main body of said shaft and the other the eccentric f, by the adjustment of which eccentric the corresponding end of the die fis made to approach or recede from the die 0 and means for adjusting the relative positions of the frame f to the links f to conform to changes of adjustment of such eccentric substantially as described.

6. In a side seaming machine having a tucker-diefadapted to cooperate with a knifedie a in forming a locked seam, means for regulating the distance between said dies con sisting of an eccentric-shaft f inserted in a socket in the frame of the machine and capable of rotation and adjustment therein, the projecting portion of said shaft being eccentric to the portion in said socket, in combination with parallel links f pivoted at one end to the frame f by which the die fis carried, the other end of said links being connected with the projecting portion of said eccentric-shaftf substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES \V. SLEEPER.

\Vitnesses:

ONEIL TWIToHELL, R. J. BROWN. 

